Are you a law student volunteer? The National Center for Access to Justice Needs Your Help!
The National Center for Access to Justice is gathering information about law student pro bono:
We are preparing a Guide to Strengthening Law Student Pro Bono to Increase Access to Justice and we are seeking your help. If you work in a court, legal services program, law school, law firm, Access to Justice Commission, bar association, or other justice system setting, we hope you will respond to this call.
The Guide will focus on “volunteering,” as distinct from clinics, externships, fellowships, and other activities which law students pursue for credit or pay. We are gathering examples of best practices in which law students, as volunteers, are making a difference. Law students may represent clients, assist lawyers, carry out policy advocacy, conduct legal research, provide legal information, help litigants complete court forms, conduct court-watching projects, and more.
The models we seek come in many forms. Some draw on efficiencies of scale, attract new resources, or have systemic impacts. Some are based in courts, involve multiple law schools, or rely on private attorneys. Some are valuable to legal services programs or courts, or fill niches in particular communities, including in rural areas far from other law schools and courts. We are especially interested when models help people in underserved practice areas, such as family law, housing law, foreclosure law, consumer law, public benefits law, and immigration law.
Please share your ideas and examples with us. We welcome your input via a survey monkey instrument located here http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/9BTCF6C, or via email, info@nc4aj.org. The survey is also posted on our web site at: http://www.ncforaj.org/law-student-pro-bono. Please also feel free to email me with any questions, David Udell, udell@yu.edu. Let us hear from you.
There’s something in it for you, too: If you know of any awesome law student volunteers, you can also nominate them for PSLawNet’s Pro Bono Publico Award!